The railroad to Mandalay... A train from
Lashio to Mandalay crosses
the famous Gokteik Viaduct in Shan state, northern Burma.
Photo courtesy of
Bernhard Heiser of
www.asiaphoto.de, which has excellent pictures of
what to see in Burma...

See Burma by train...

Burma is not noted for the attractiveness of its
regime, to put it mildly, but things are improving.
www.burmacampaign.org.uk used to tell tourists not to go
to Burma at all, but it changed this advice in 2012.
If you
decide to go, you'll find a
fascinating country which is easy and safe to visit, with
friendly and honest people. Paradoxically, the lack of
mass tourism due to the boycott of the regime has
preserved Burma from westernisation, making it one of the most interesting places to
visit now, before it's too late. Burma's British-built railways are less
developed than others in Southeast Asia, but you'll find the trains are a
wonderful way to get around and experience the country at ground level, avoiding
unnecessary domestic flights and cramped buses. The journeys are as
much an adventure as the country itself.

Is it Myanmar or Burma?

Myanmar is the Burmese-language name for Burma, and
always was, even in colonial times. Burma is the English-language name for
Myanmar, and still is. The Burmese government switched to using the
Burmese-language name for the country in 1948, and in 1989 also
switched to using the Burmese-language names for a number of
places around the country. On this webpage, the Burmese names are used first, with the familiar English-language name in
brackets, for example Yangon (Rangoon) or Mawlamyine
(Moulmein).

Can you help?

The Burmese Railways don't have a website, and this page is kept up to date by feedback from travellers. If you find that fares or times have changed,
or can fill gaps in the information,
please email
me. If you find times or prices have changed from those shown on this
page, a photo of the fare & timetable boards at the station would be much appreciated!

UK and citizens of most other western nations need a visa to visit Burma (Myanmar).
As from 1 September 2014 you can buy an e-visa online at
http://evisa.moip.gov.mm/
for a $50 fee, for entry
via Yangon, Mandalay or Naypyitaw airports. Alternatively, you can get a regular visa from the Embassy of
the Union of Myanmar, 19a Charles Street, London W1X 8ER, visa section open
10:00-13:00 Mon-Fri, visa fee £14. Call 020 7629 4486 or 24 hour visa info
line (premium rates) 0891 600306 or 0891 600 306. Fax 020 7629 4169. Health & vaccinations

Inter-city, Burma-style...

The Rangoon to Mandalay express trains are
a pretty comfortable and in fact relatively fast and punctual
option for travel between these cities. Pretty bumpy in
places, that's true, but much more comfortable than cramped buses
and infinitely more of a genuine Burmese experience than any
flight. In fact, the train ride is a highly recommended
experience, over the old British-built colonial railway. Most
Rangoon-Mandalay trains were rescheduled to run by day rather than overnight
in 2006 when the government moved the capital to Naypyitaw,
but switched back to being mostly overnight from January
2012. The timetable below comes from confirmed data from 2014, still
in force in 2015, beware of a number of Burmese websites showing
out-of-date timetables.

Upper class seats:
Upper class cars on a Rangoon to Mandalay express are
actually quite comfortable. There is no
air-conditioning, which is almost an advantage because the
windows open for a cool breeze and unrivalled views of the
Burmese countryside. Seats photo courtesy of Ian Guttridge.
See the sleeper photos.

Fares

One-way, either
direction, in kyat

Upper class

sleeper

Upper class

seat

First class

seat

Ordinary

seat

Rangoon to Mandalay

12,750 ($14)

9,300 ($10)

?

4,600

Rangoon to Thazi

10,100 ($11)

7,350 ($8)

?

?

Rangoon to Naypyitaw

-

5,600 ($6)

?

?

Rangoon to Bago

-

1,150 ($1)

?

1,000

Mandalay to Rangoon

12,750 ($14)

9,300 ($10)

?

4,600

Mandalay to Thazi

?

?

?

1,000

Mandalay to Naypyitaw

?

3,700 ($4)

?

?

Mandalay to Bago

?

?

?

?

Children under 3 years old travel free, children under 10 pay half fare.

£1 = approx 1,600 kyat, $1 =
approx 950 kyat. If you can help fill the gaps in this table,
please email me!

Night express to Mandalay... The afternoon train from Rangoon to Mandalay passes Bago.
The open windows and relatively slow speeds make train
travel a great way to see Burma. The semaphore signals are unmistakably
British...

Contrary
to what you might read in your guidebook, the Rangoon to
Mandalay express trains are a comfortable, fairly
fast and reasonably punctual way to travel between Rangoon and
Mandalay. Trains are available for boarding
at Rangoon in good time (normally at the platform right in front
of you when you enter the station), and they generally depart
promptly with whistles blown, flags waved, and a long low hoot
from the locomotive.

The train trundles out of Rangoon at just 15mph with the local
children trying to hang on to the outside, accelerating to
40-45mph once clear of the city, clickety-clacking past small
villages of palm-thatched cottages built on stilts, ox carts
trundling slowly along dusty roads, and occasional white or gold
stupas. Burmese children love to wave at trains, especially if
they see a western face at the window, and will smile broadly
when you wave back. You'll be travelling along a railway
originally built by the British - look out for the old-fashioned
semaphore signals and mock-Tudor signal boxes at Bago.

Even when night falls, you'll see the palm trees silhouetted in
the moonlight, and the smell of the village cooking fires will
drift into your sleeper compartment through the open window.
Make sure you have a jumper or fleece handy if you travel
overnight, as it can get very cold a few hours after dark.
The track is not the best in the world and in places it will put
your carriage suspension through its paces, but you stand a good
chance of arriving at the other end within 5 or 10 minutes of
the advertised time. However, delays of 30 - 60 minutes or
more are not uncommon, so make allowances.

Travellers' reports...

Traveller Roger Minns reports: "After a
last shower we set off on the midday walk to the station and our
rendezvous with our upper class seats of the ’Chinese 29 up
train’ from Rangoon bound for Mandalay leaving at 12.30 [this
particular train no longer runs].
And there it was! A spacious carriage with collapsed but
still surprisingly comfortable seats (albeit in the permanently
fully-reclined mode) some 40 years old but mercifully with
windows which opened fully and a ceiling full of fans which
worked! The carriage was full with polite local people
including a couple of monks. We left on time through the
outskirts of Rangoon and then through an arid farming area.
People working on the land with oxen but no tractors or farm
equipment – unbelievably arduous work. Occasionally our
train slowed or stopped at a station when a multitude of vendors
would get on – often emerging from the roof with a range of hot
and cold food offerings – including, to Tom’s undisguised
delight, a bloke with tins of coldish Myanmar beer. There
was also a restaurant service of sorts on board and Graham in
particular took full advantage of the supply of noodles, curries
and, inevitably, coffee. After dark the lights didn’t
really work so we tried to sleep in fairly uncomfortable
circumstances. It was chilly, but with the windows closed
not excessively so, and we all managed to kip for a bit. Any
urge Tom and I might have had to visit the loo rapidly
evaporated when a rather shaken-looking Graham returned with a
report that there was a loose turd rolling around on the
lavatory floor! Then, suddenly at 3am, our arrival on time
at Mandalay Station! We had worried about arriving at
Mandalay at 3 in the morning expecting the place to be dead. Far
from it! The station was humming with music, tea houses, people
sleeping on the platform and, inevitably, taxi drivers! "

Bagan,
where 800-year-old temples and stupas litter a huge plain as
far as the eye can see, should not be missed, and it's a highlight on most
visitors' itineraries. There is
a daily
direct train from Rangoon to Bagan introduced in early 2010,
with a sleeping-car, see the photos below. Expect a bit of a bumpy
ride, but a real adventure, across Burma on a sleeper train passing occasional
golden stupas with the smell of the village fire wafting in on the cool breeze
through your open window. For an account of a journey on this train with
photos, see
http://lesleyleephotography.com/myanmar-by-train. Alternatively, you could take an express
train from Rangoon
to Mandalay, visit Mandalay, then travel
to Bagan using the express ferry, a wonderful journey.
Here are the details for the direct train.
Feedback
always appreciated!

To buy tickets in Bagan, you don't have to go all the way out to the station as
there's a Myanmar Railways ticket office in Nyaung Oo, on Lanmadaw street,
opposite the Grand Empire Hotel. Tickets are sold up to 3 days in
advance. The office opens at 09:00 and closes late afternoon, around 17:00
or 18:00.

Bagan station is a modern pagoda-style station in the middle of nowhere
about 5km southeast of the Nyaung Oo township, roughly 9km from Old Bagan.
It's possibly one of the few stations in the world further from the town it
serves than the airport!

One traveller reports "I caught the train up to Bagan from Yangon with my
family last week. It was a great journey – extremely bumpy in some sections but
altogether a very enjoyable experience. We arrived 2 hours late at 11:30,
exactly as we'd been advised by the conductor the night before, so it may be
down to work on the line..." There should be a restaurant car
attached to this train, but take your own supplies just in case there's not.

Sleeper on the Yangon to
Bagan train. Courtesy Eckart Spindler.

The Bagan to Yangon train
being shunted into the platform at Bagan. Courtesy of Eckart
Spindler.

Restaurant car on the
Yangon to Bagan train. Courtesy of Eckart Spindler.

A journey to Inle Lake on the Slow Train
From Thazi...

Inle Lake is one of the most beautiful places in Burma, and it's not surprising
that it attracts many visitors. The usual base for exploring the lake is
Nyaungshwe, at the north end of the lake. Trains and buses don't go
directly to Nyaungshwe, but go to the main town of Shwenyaung 11 km away, from
where there are plenty of local taxis or buses to Nyaungshwe. So to reach
Inle Lake, first take an express train from Rangoon or Mandalay to Thazi and stop overnight, then
travel to Shwenyaung on either a bus taking 4-5 hours on bad roads or
by far the better option,
on an absolutely amazing scenic ride on the 'Slow Train From
Thazi' as shown below. The train ride might be the highlight of your trip!

** Arrives Rangoon the day after leaving Shwenyaung as train number 10, and has no sleepers.
You may prefer to travel via Thazi, as recommended below.

? = Estimated time. The timetable changed in February 2014, and train
141/142 now runs via Thazi instead of by-passing it. The times shown
without a '?' are confirmed, intermediate times have had to be guesstimated but
are probably within +/- 15 minutes of the actual scheduled time.
Feedback would be appreciated, a photo
of the timetable board at Thazi, Kalaw or Shwenyaung stations would be ideal.

Thazi to Kalaw is 197km (123 miles), Thazi to Shwenyaung is 247km (154 miles). All the trains shown here run
daily.

Coming from Rangoon, you have a choice of several options. Train 9/141 runs direct from Rangoon
to Kalaw & Shwenyaung as shown above, but it's a very slow train and has no sleeping-car just upper
class reclining seats. It is overtaken by expresses.
It's better to leave Rangoon
at 15:00 by express train number 5 with sleeping-car, arriving Thazi at 02:08, and change onto train 143 leaving Thazi at
05:00 for Kalaw & Shwenyaung,
as shown above. Or even better, leave Rangoon 17:00 on train 3 with
sleeping-car arriving Thazi at 04:55, changing onto train 141 leaving Thazi at
07:00 for Kalaw & Shwenyaung. Or you can leave
Rangoon earlier, at 06:00 by express train number 11 arriving Thazi at 18:12,
get a proper night's sleep in the Moonlight guesthouse in Thazi and continue next morning
on either train 141 at 05:00 or train 143 at 07:00 for Kalaw & Shwenyaung, an
amazing scenic ride on the Slow Train from Thazi. The choice is yours...

Coming from Mandalay: Take an afternoon or evening train from
Mandalay to Thazi (train 6 or 4),
see the Rangoon-Mandalay
timetable above. Stay overnight in Thazi, the Moonlight
Guesthouse is 15 min walk along the road from the clean, simple, great food. Next day, take train
141 or 143 to Kalaw or Shwenyaung, an amazing scenic ride on the Slow Train from
Thazi...

The Moonlight guest house in Thazi is clean & simple with great food, singles
with fan $10,
doubles $15. It's 15 minutes walk or short (horse-powered) taxi ride along
the road from the station into town, and you'll normally find rooms available
without any advance reservation. They are used to people leaving early for the
trains and can make a breakfast bag for you to take.

On arrival at Shwenyaung station, walk 15 minutes (or take a taxi, 1,000 Kyat)
along the main road to the Tuk Tuk stop for Nyaungshwe. A Tuk Tuk directly from
the railway station to any hotel in downtown Nyaungshwe costs 8,000 Kyat per
car. There's an entrance fee for foreigners for the Inle Lake region, US$
5 ($10 from 1 October 2013) which has to be paid before entering Nyaungshwe. If you're visiting
Nyaungshwe during the high season, make sure you reserve accommodation as soon
as you can and to confirm it a week before you arrive, as hotels and guesthouses
can sell out. Feedback appreciated.

What's the journey like?

Buses
may be faster, but the Slow Train From Thazi is a wonderful experience
which should not be missed. Stock up on mineral water and beer, then
recline in your Upper class armchair (you may have no choice -
the recline mechanism may be broken), and gaze through wide open windows at the
wonderful scenery passing by at just 15-20 mph.

After crossing the plain from Thazi, the train enters the hills
and climbs up a steep mountainside on a series of switchbacks,
reversing several times and backing up the slope to gain height.
In several places, the train loops around and doubles back on
itself. Look out for the very English mock-Tudor station
building at the old British hill station of Kalaw. When
you arrive in Shwenyaung, the journey to Nyaungshwe takes 25
minutes by taxi or public pick-up.

Rangoon
or Mandalay to Inle Lake:
Take an express train from Rangoon to Thazi, see the
Rangoon - Mandalay
timetable above. One option is to travel the day
before and stay the night in Thazi, there are
guesthouses at the end of the station approach on the main
street. You are unlikely to have any difficulty buying a
ticket for the Slow Train to Shwenyaung at Thazi ticket office
when you get there. In Thazi, the Red Star restaurant,
where the station approach joins the main road, is a good choice
for a meal while you change trains. A deluxe waiting room
for foreigners is also available at Thazi station for $1 per
person. Complete the last few kilometres from Shwenyaung
to Nyaungshwe by bus or taxi.

Inle Lake to Rangoon or Mandalay:
In Nyaungshwe, there are lots of travel agencies who can arrange
just about anything except train tickets! But
don't worry - just turn up at Shwenyaung station 30-40 minutes
before the departure of the Slow Train To Thazi and you're
unlikely to have any difficulty getting an Upper class ticket
for the train to Thazi. For onwards trains from Thazi to
Rangoon or Mandalay, see the
Rangoon - Mandalay
timetable above. You can buy a ticket for one of the expresses
to Rangoon when you
get to Thazi.

The train
from Shwenyaung to Thazi will probably arrive in Thazi either on time or
even 15 minutes early(!). If you change onto an express, these get
priority so you can expect an arrival Rangoon either on time or
maybe 20-75 minutes late. In Thazi, the Red Star
restaurant, where the station approach joins the main road, is a
good choice for a meal while you change trains. A deluxe
waiting room for foreigners is available at Thazi station for $1
per person.

Upper class seats...

The Shwenyaung-Thazi train. Courtesy Sebastien Santurette.

Into the hills... The Slow Train to Thazi winds its way through the
hills.

Wayside halts... The Shwenyaung-Thazi train stops briefly at
village stations...

Taking the train to
Kipling's Moulmein...

Moulmein is not on every
visitor's itinerary, but if you have the time it's well worth a visit for its
colonial buildings and historic mosques. Rudyard Kipling wrote
the Road to Mandalay, but Moulmein was the only Burmese city which he
actually visited, and the main pagoda on the ridge overlooking the city is the
setting for his poem Burma Girl. Kyaikto is the stop for the famous
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. For overland
travel between Dawei & Kanchanaburi & Bangkok in Thailand, see here.

If you're travelling to or from
Dawei, you need to switch trains at Ye. This is a simple cross-platform
switch.

Trains used to terminate at Moatama for a ferry
across the Thanlwin river to Moulmein, but the new road+rail bridge and new railway
station in Moulmein opened to trains on 18 April 2006.
Trains from Rangoon now run beyond Moatama across the
new bridge direct to and from Moulmein itself and one runs on to
Ye and Dawei as shown. The new
station is behind the ridge with the pagodas.

Rangoon to Moulmein is 281 km (176 miles). All the trains shown here run
daily except the one marked *.

Fares

One-way in either
direction, in kyat

Upper class

seat

Ordinary

seat

Rangoon to Bago

1,150 ($2)

600

Rangoon to
Kyaikto

2,450 ($3)

1,200

Rangoon to Moulmein

4,250 ($5)

2,150

Rangoon to Ye

?

?

Rangoon to
Dawei

?

?

Kyaikto to
Moulmein

2,500

1,300

Bago to
Moulmein

?

?

Children under 3 years old travel free, children under 10 pay half fare.

About the journey...

The train
follows the Rangoon-Mandalay main line as far as Bago, where it
branches off and heads
across the plains to the broad Sittung River which it crosses
via a huge and heavily-guarded road/rail bridge. The
scenery becomes more interesting on the other side - look out
for primitive brickworks on the left in several locations, with
brick kilns and bricks drying in the sun, and of course you'll
see lots of stupas especially on the mountain ridge to the east.
Historically, the railway from Rangoon ended at Moatama (Martaban)
which was the ferry
terminal for ferries across the Thanlwin River to Moulmein
itself.
A new road+rail bridge has now been built, opened to road
traffic in February 2005 and to trains in April 2006.
Trains now rumble slowly across the bridge into a brand-new
station behind the hill with Moulmein pagoda. The
Moatama-Moulmein ferry service has been discontinued. Expect an arrival
generally around 30-60 minutes late.

* Trains 63/64 & 75/76 use Rangoon Kyemyindine
station, not Rangoon main station. Kyemyindine station is
a few stops northwest of Rangoon main station on the city's
circular train line. Times for these trains are not confirmed.

Into the
hills at dawn & over the Gokteik Viaduct...

Pyin Oo Lwin, also known as Maymyo after its founder Colonel May, is well
worth a visit for the colonial buildings, its botanic gardens,
and a ride in the miniature stagecoaches that are used
as taxis. Many visitors also head off to the market
towns of Shan state such as Hsipaw. The early-morning train ride from Mandalay
up into the hills is a fabulous experience,
see the description below. South of Hsipaw, the train crosses the famous
Gokteik viaduct, a historic landmark in its own
right.

Don't let the early start put you off, the
ride into the hills as dawn breaks is absolutely fabulous...
It's
an early start from
Mandalay, but this train ride is easily the best way to reach the old British hill
station of Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo) and the Shan state towns of
Hsipaw (Thibaw) and Lashio. Leaving Mandalay heading south
the train soon turns northeast across the plains. It's
still dark at this time, but traders with torches and fires
flock to the train when it calls at wayside stations. At
dawn, the train reaches the foot of the mountains and starts
climbing. It gains height using a series of zig-zags,
stopping and reversing up the steep gradient twice to reach the
plateau at the top of the escarpment (see the picture below). Soon after reaching
the plateau, the train arrives at Pyin Oo Lwin.

After Pyin Oo Lwin the train snakes its way through pleasant
countryside to the highlight of the trip, the crossing of a
spectacular valley on the dramatic Gokteik viaduct, just after
Gokteik station. You'll see the viaduct on the left-hand side of the train
as you leave Gokteik station, The train then curves left onto the bridge. The Gokteik viaduct was built in 1901
by an American firm of contractors who won the tender with a
design allegedly far more advanced than any of the other bids.
When built, it had the highest span of any bridge in the British
Empire, and was the only American-built bridge in the Empire,
too. Rumour has it that the Burmese government did no
maintenance on the bridge whilst a British insurance policy was
still in force, but you'll be relieved to hear that the bridge
was renovated in the 1990s. The train passes over at
walking pace, and you may be prevented from taking photographs
as the Burmese consider the bridge to be of strategic
importance. Don't lean out of the window and look
downwards if you suffer from vertigo! Expect an arrival at
the other end around 15-60 minutes late.

If you want to do a day trip over the famous Gokteik viaduct:
Gokteik station is on the Mandalay side of the
famous Gokteik viaduct, in other words, coming from Mandalay or Pyin Oo Lwin,
the train arrives at Gokteik station before crossing the viaduct. If you want to
cross the viaduct
on the train and immediately return south, you should buy a ticket to the station
beyond Gokteik, a little place called Nawngpeng, see the timetable above. This is where
the northbound and southbound trains pass each other on the single line, so you
can go from Mandalay or Pyin Oo Lwin to the viaduct and back in a day.
Make sure you're ready to jump off the northbound train and onto the southbound train on
the adjacent track, as if the northbound train is late and the southbound
already waiting, it will leave as soon as the northbound train arrives and it
gets the 'right away'. You won't have time to buy a ticket at Nawngpeng station, just
jump onto
the southbound train back to Pyin Oo Lwin or Mandalay and pay on
board.

Dawn on the train... Having left
Mandalay in darkness, the sun now comes up...

Traders
flock to the train - some stations on this line seem to
specialise in fresh flowers!

The Gokteik viaduct... Beyond Pyin
oo Lwin, the highlight of the journey to Lashio is the crossing of the
famous Gokteik Viaduct across a deep river gorge covered with thick bush. When built
in 1901, it had the highest span of any bridge in the British Empire.
Above, a view of the viaduct seen from the northbound train soon after it leaves
Gokteik station on its way towards the bridge. Photo courtesy of
Richard Herring.

Traveller's reports...

Traveller Jerome Luepkes reports:
"I took the train from Hsipaw to Pyin Oo Lwin, the downhill journey on the
Lashio line, an eventful journey of 7 hours through some of the best scenery in
Burma. You could have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, then hop on the train
for a day of sights and sensations, arriving at the other end with plenty of
daylight left to check into your hotel. The trains are usually fairly punctual,
but no one actually expects everything to be perfectly on time anyway, a typical
characteristic of life in Burma. My train was delayed by forty minutes, so I had
plenty of time to sample the tasty food the local vendors had on offer at the
station. When the train arrived there was plenty of time to find seats and
settle in. The trains are old Chinese carriages, built for a different gauge to
the tracks in Burma. This results in an awe-inspiring amount of sideways
movement as the train accelerates out of the station and through the hills.
There is so much swing that passengers have to hold on for dear life as they
move about the carriage, but it's all in good fun. The seats of the "Upper
Class" are the softest and widest on the train, but that's about all the
difference, as the whole train is fairly old and dirty. A lot of the fixtures were broken as well, but that
didn't diminish the experience for me one bit. I loved the entire train trip as
it gave me a chance to talk to the locals, meet other travellers, and have a
truly Burmese experience. We stopped several times along the
way, each stop affording the chance to get onto the platform for a while, buy
some food and a cup of tea while taking photos of the smiley Burmese people. The
highlight of the trip was the spectacularly colossal Gokteik Viaduct which we
passed over in the early afternoon. All the doors of the train can be opened at
any time, and budding photographers were busy taking photos out of the carriages
the whole way over. The scenery continued to be breathtaking all the way into
the afternoon. Arriving at Pyin Oo Lwin was both a relief after a physically
demanding trip, but also the end to an epic and highly enjoyable train journey."

Travellers reports...

Traveller Alistair Weaver
travelled in 2015: "We booked our Upper Class Sleeper tickets to Hopin
at Mandalay station the day before we travelled and had no problems. It cost
17,900kyat per person for Upper Class Sleeper. The train arrived 2 hours late
and although tired and worn it was clean and we had the compartment of 4 to the
3 of us. The journey is a memorable one but at times the ride can be quite
bouncy but it is a great way to see parts of Burma you'd never see. There's no
restaurant car onboard but food can be purchased from stations with most people
buying their food at Shwebo, which is about 4 hours into the journey. We were
worried that we would have an early start as we were due to arrive in Hopin at
03:00, however the train ran late arriving at 08:30. This appears to be a
regular occurrence. There were plenty of opportunities to buy breakfast before
we arrived at Hopin. Once at Hopin we were met by a pick up truck driver who
drove us, various suppliers and some other passengers to Longton for 4,000kyat.
There is only one very basic guest house to stay in in Longton (IndawMaHar
Guesthouse) which currently doesn't have any mains electricity although a few
restaurants on the road nearby will charge devices for 500kyat. Whilst very long
the journey was a fantastic experience and I'd recommend it to anyone with an
adventurous streak."

Alistair Weaver also describes
the return trip, partly by river boat: "The one Guest House in Longton
Village on the shores of Indawgyi lake will arrange transport back to Hopin for
you. The pick ups usually leave about 07:00 and cost 4,000kyat per person. The
journey is quicker as there is less to pick up/drop off and takes 2-3 hours. The
first southbound train is at 12:00 which takes 4-5 hours to reach Hopin. We
purchased tickets on the day and got reserved seats in Ordinary Class which was
more than suitable for the short trip. Once at Katha we got a minivan to Katha
for 1,000kyat which took an hour. There are plenty to choose from. Our minivan
dropped us outside Ayarwaddy Guest House in Katha which is opposite the two
jettys. For people going south there are two options: There is a daily
Fast Boat from Katha to Mandalay which takes roughly 14 hours, departing at 5am.
This can be booked at the green shack to the right of the guest house and costs
25,000 kyat. This also stops at Kyauk Myaung. There is also a slow boat
operated by the state IWT (Inland Water Transport). This leaves on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 17:00. A bunk in a twin cabin (you can travel as a lone
traveler) costs $45 (they also accept kyat), whereas a space on deck costs $9.
We did the trip in May, which is the end of dry season so suspect it was when
the river is lowest and the boats are slowest. The trip to Kyauk Myaung took 24
hours arriving at 17:00 the following evening. The trip to Mandalay took 43
hours, arriving at 12:00. The $9 option is a great experience to mingle with the
locals and you can buy supplies such as a mat (2,500 kyat) and pillow
(1,000kyat) in Katha before you sail. Try and get a space in the middle of the
boat away from the engine at the back and far enough in to be dry should it
rain. There is a basic food stand onboard that sells rice and egg in the morning
(500kyat) and a meat curry with rice in the afternoon and evening (1,000kyat).
The boat doesn't travel when it is dark, at least in dry season, to prevent it
grounding so its possible to get a good nights sleep. As with most of Asia
people board the ferry at stops selling food. According to the IWT
website, the return working for the boat from Mandalay leaves at 06:00 on
Monday, Thursday and Friday but it is probably best to travel with the flow of
the river.

This is the train
service between Mandalay and the temples of Bagan, although you may prefer the river journey aboard the
Mandalay-Bagan express
ferry service.
Mandalay to Bagan is just 179km, making this a
very slow train, even though the line was only built in 1996! You may prefer
to take the excellent Mandalay-Bagan
express ferry for this journey, especially in the Mandalay to Bagan
direction as the train runs overnight, but has no sleeping-car, and and the
ferry runs faster with (rather than against) the flow of the current.

Bagan station is a modern pagoda-style station in the middle of nowhere about
5km southeast of the Nyaung Oo township, 9km from Old Bagan.
It's possibly one of the few stations in the world further from
the town it serves than the airport! The station does, however, feature a
spacious if spartan 'tourist lounge' in which to wait.

Mandalay to Bagan is 179 km (112 miles).

Fares

One-way in either
direction

First class

seat

Ordinary

seat

Mandalay to Bagan

1,800 kyat (£1.50, $2)

1,300 kyat (£1, $1.30)

Foreigners no longer pay the
higher-rate fares in US$ shown above, but pay the same fares as Burmese
citizens, in local currency (kyat).

Children under 3 years old travel free, children under 10 pay half fare.

On the premier Rangoon to Mandalay route, the express trains are
reasonably clean, comfortable and even relatively speedy.
On other routes, don't expect western standards, as train travel
in Burma is an adventure! Trains are often wonderfully slow,
grubby, and fittings
such as lights and seats are usually not in the best state of repair.
But best of all, the
glass panes and metal shutters over the windows are normally secured out of the way,
giving you a clear and unobstructed view of the countryside and villages of 'real' Burma
as it trundles past,
with nothing between you and it!

Burmese trains have three classes:
Upper class, First class and Ordinary class. In addition, Upper Class
sleeping-cars operate on several Rangoon to Mandalay trains, on
the Rangoon to Bagan overnight train, and in some Mandalay-Myitkyina
trains, and they come in two types,
standard sleepers and special sleepers, details shown below. The best
Rangoon-Mandalay trains have restaurant cars, with 4-seat
tables, serving meals, drinks and snacks.

Upper class has comfortable
reclining seats, sometimes two-abreast on each side of the aisle,
sometimes
one-abreast on one side of the aisle and two abreast on the
other. The seats normally all face the direction of
travel, but can be rotated to face each other (for example, to
make a group of 4 seats) if required.
Upper class on the main Rangoon - Mandalay express trains is
relatively clean and comfortable, with fresh seat
covers and curtains at the window. Upper class on
secondary trains is much grubbier but still quite comfortable,
although you will find your seat
recline mechanism in various states of repair...

Upper class seats on express trains, as on the
Rangoon-Mandalay expresses and the Rangoon-Bagan train. The windows have a
glass pane & a metal shutter, but both can be secured out of the way.
Courtesy of Ian Guttridge.

Upper class
seatson secondary lines are grubbier and in a worse state
of repair, but still comfortable. This is Upper
class on the Slow Train from Shwenyaung (Inle Lake) to
Thazi.

First class has basic wooden seats,
almost identical to Ordinary class, but with a padded
leatherette seat bottom. For the first half hour, this padding seems to
make the extra cost worthwhile. After that, you
wonder if the Ordinary class wooden seats would be less sweaty
in the heat! First class is only available on certain
trains.

Ordinary class has basic wooden
seats, and is quite bearable for many journeys such as Mandalay
to Pyin Oo Lwin or Hsipaw. The seats are numbered on the
back (in Burmese numerals) and every passenger has a specific
seat number written on their ticket, so there's no overcrowding
or scrum for seats. Just watch out for the local produce
stacked all over the floor!

Upper class sleeping-cars operate on Rangoon-Mandalay trains 3, 4, 5, 6 and
on the Rangoon to Bagan overnight train, as well as in some Mandalay-Myitkyina
trains, usually just one sleeping-car per train. Sleeping-cars come
in two varieties, the standard sleeper with conventional side corridor and 4-berth
and 2-berth compartments, and the less common 'special' sleeper which has
several totally separate full-width compartments each with 4 longitudinal berths
a toilet and entrance door, but no access through the train. The Rangoon-Bagan train
has the standard sleeper type, train 5 & 6 Rangoon-Mandalay has sometimes been reported as
having standard sleepers and sometimes special sleepers. Train 3 & 4 has
the standard type.

A pillow, sheet and light blanket are provided, but it gets very cold at night
so make sure that you have socks, a jumper and a fleece with you. It's a noisy and bumpy ride, so you will snooze
rather than sleep, but it's good to be able to lie down on a flat bed in a
safely locked compartment on the great adventure of crossing Burma by train. There's
a ceiling fan and the windows open for ventilation or reflection-free
photography. More photos & feedback is always
appreciated.

...Standard type sleeper.

The standard sleeping-car
as used on the Rangoon-Bagan overnight train and trains 3 & 4 Rangoon-Mandalay has four largish 4-berth
compartments and two smaller 2-berth compartments, opening off a side corridor
giving access to the rest of the train. There are western-style toilets
and a washbasin at the end of the corridor, usually kept pretty clean, but bring
your own toilet paper.

Upper class sleeping-car on train 4 from Mandalay to Rangoon,
of the standard type with 2-berth & 4-berth compartments opening off a side corridor.
Above left, a 4-berth compartment with 2 upper and 2 lower berths. The
2-berth compartments have one upper & one lower berth. Some cars like this
one retain the older
aircraft-cockpit-green approach to interior décor. Photos courtesy of Michael Walker.

Upper class sleeping-car
of the same type, but some cars have been nicely refurbished with smart
varnished wood panelling... Above left, a 4-berth compartment in a standard sleeping-car on the Rangoon-Bagan train,
photo courtesy of Ian Guttridge. Above centre, the corridor
along one side of such a car. Above
right, my wife Nicolette on the top bunk of a 2-berth compartment on a train
from Thazi to Rangoon.

These 'special' sleepers run in train 5 & 6 Rangoon-Mandalay, although
feedback suggests standard sleepers are sometimes used on this train either as
well as or instead of the special sleepers, so more
feedback would be appreciated.
They have an unconventional layout: A special
sleeping-car is divided into four separate self-contained
compartments, each taking up the full width of the car, each with its own
entrance vestibule, its own toilet and seat/berth area. In the seat/berth area, a pair of wide upholstered armchairs face each
other by the window on each side of the car. At night, these seats pull
together to form a wide lower berth. The upper berths are fixed in
position above the seats. There is no corridor and no access between
compartments or from your compartment to the rest of the train, so travellers in
special sleepers cannot use the restaurant car.

A
special sleeper from Rangoon to Mandalay. Pictured above right, a 4-berth special sleeper
compartment on train 5. The photographer is standing in the compartment entrance vestibule,
which has entrance doors on both sides of the car. The door to the toilet
is behind him. The berths are longitudinal, along the coach sides. If he panned
the camera left you'd see the other upper berth and seats on the left-hand side of the
compartment, the mirror-image of those on the right visible here. The
compartment takes up the full width of the car, there is no access to the rest
of the train or car either through the end wall in the background of the photo,
or through the wall behind the photographer, other than the door into the
toilet. Interior photo courtesy of Chris Querée.

Since April 2014 foreigners no longer need to pay in US dollars...

Until 2014, foreigners had to pay higher train fares than
Burmese citizens, and had to pay in US dollars.
However, from 1 April 2014 visitors now pay the same fares as Burmese
citizens, and pay in local currency (kyat). This makes train travel
even cheaper, even though it wasn't expensive before.
Feedback and any info on the 'new' locals-rate fares would be appreciated,
especially a photo of any new fares posters. Children under 3 years old travel
free, children under 10 pay half fare.
Although the Myanmar Railways
has no official website, you can check train times & fares on
several travel agency
websites - try
www.myanmarventure.com/train/index.html,
or
www.yangonow.com/eng/transportation/train/fare.html.

You can't book trains online, in fact the Burmese railways don't even have a
website. It's usually easiest just to buy in person when you're there,
booking opens a few days before departure. However, if you want to secure
tickets for departures from Rangoon in advance from outside Burma you can do so
by email through a number of Rangoon travel agencies including:

Pre-booking is no bad thing if you want a sleeper, as these are in relatively
short supply. These agencies will buy your tickets on your behalf and have
them delivered to your hotel for a nominal fee. They'll first ask you to
send them a scan of your passport, this is quite normal. I have not used
either agency myself, but Exotic Myanmar Travels & Tours has so far had at
several very positive reviews.
Feedback is always appreciated!

You can buy train
tickets in person at the station ticket office, it's easy.
Reservations are not computerised, but based on hand-written reservation
lists, so bookings can only be made at the station where your journey starts,
not for journeys starting elsewhere. Every main station has a clear
information board showing train times & fares for foreigners in English

Upper class bookings open 3
days in advance. Ordinary class bookings open just one day in advance.
You can't buy tickets before bookings open. At some smaller
stations you may be told to come back and buy a ticket just before
departure.

Apart from the train times &
fares for foreigners boards there are relatively few signs in
English, but don't worry - just ask at the first available
ticket window and as a foreigner you will normally be invited
inside the ticket office (!) and told to sit down while someone is
called to help you. You will need the names, nationality
and passport number of each passenger as these will be written
on your ticket.

I'd recommend buying your
ticket at least the day before departure if you can, but it's usually not difficult for a foreigner to secure a Upper class or ordinary class seat on
the day of departure. All passengers get a reserved seat, the coach &
seat numbers will be written on the ticket.
Sleepers are in short supply on the main Rangoon to Mandalay route as there's
only one sleeping-car per train, so book a day or two ahead
if you can. But you're unlikely to have any trouble getting a
sleeper on the direct train from Rangoon to Bagan even on the day of departure.

To buy train tickets in Rangoon on the day
of travel itself, go to the station. Tickets for trains leaving the same day are sold at
the station. Take your passport and enter the
station by the right-hand main entrance and for tickets to Mandalay or Bagan look for the
first ticket window on the left. You'll find a money changer and several
ATMs at the station if you need them, as well as food kiosks and a cafe.

To buy train tickets in
Rangoon 1-3 days before travel, go to the Advance Booking Office. Take
your passport, and go to the Advance Booking Office
which is
not in the station itself but in Bogyoke Aung San
road on the south side of the tracks, opposite the Sakura Tower
and diagonally opposite the Traders Hotel. Look for the entrance sign shown in
the photo below. It is open daily 06:00-10:00 &
13:00-16:00. It looks more like a farmyard than a
reservations office! Walk off the main road, 30m down
the track into the booking hall proper, and you'll see a row of
about 10 ticket windows. The window for booking trains
from Rangoon to Mandalay is the first one on the left. You may also
be able to book train tickets through your hotel.

In Mandalay, to buy train
tickets go to the ticket office on the first floor
of the station, above the tracks.

Rangoon station.
Surprisingly, Rangoon's impressive station building is on the far (north) side of the tracks from the
city centre. But don't go there to buy tickets!

Entrance to Rangoon advance booking office
on Bogyoke Aung
San Road, on the southern (city centre) side of the tracks. At first sight
more like a farmyard than a booking office, but look for this
sign!

Inside Rangoon advance booking office
on Bogyoke Aung San Road. The far left window is the one for
tickets to Mandalay or Bagan. Booking opens 3 days before departure.
Feedback would be appreciated!

Train tickets in Burma are hand-written! This is a 2014 ticket, you can
see that payment is now in kyats, even for foreigners. Photo courtesy of
Ioannis Karagiannis.

Taking a river steamer along the Irrawaddy is perhaps the best way to transfer between
Mandalay & Bagan. The Mandalay-Bagan express ferry is a wonderful way
to travel, revealing
Burmese life on and along the river.
There are now 3 ferries: A twice-weekly slow
ferry mainly for locals, the original daily Shwekeinnery express ferry
for tourists, and a new twice-weekly express ferry Malikha also aimed
at tourists. If you want the Orient Express 4-night luxury option,
see the Road to Mandalay section below.

How to buy tickets:
Ferry tickets for any of these ferries can be booked through
your hotel or via a travel agency, or through the MTT (government
tourist information) offices in major towns (there's an MTT office at Mandalay station or in Rangoon near the Sule Paya)
or at Inland Water Transport (IWT) offices.

In Mandalay, the
IWT office is located on 35th Street, a few hundred metres from
the river on the left hand side looking towards the river. Ideally, buy a
ticket the day before, but it's possible to buy tickets on the morning of departure at the boat,
make sure you arrive before 05:00 to be sure of a place.

If you have any feedback from travelling on these ferries,
please
e-mail me.

Yangon
(Rangoon) ► Pyay ► Bagan ► Mandalay

Local ferry

Local ferry

Local ferry

Shwekeinnery

Malikha

Yangon (Rangoon) Lanthit jetty

depart

16:00 Friday

-

-

-

-

Pyay (Prome)

arrive

16:25 Tuesday

-

-

-

-

Pyay (Prome)

depart

-

05:30 Saturday

-

-

-

Bagan (Old
Bagan)

depart

-

|

-

-

-

Bagan (Nyaung
Oo jetty)

arr/dep

-

??:?? Thursday

??:?? Monday

06:00
day 1

06:30 day 1

Mandalay
(Gawwein jetty)

arrive

-

14:25 Thursday

??:?? Monday

18:00 day 1

17:00 day 1

On board the
daily Shwekeinnery Mandalay-Bagan express ferry...

The
modern Mandalay-Bagan express ferry. You'll spend most time
on deck...

All passenger
get a reclining seat on the lower deck.

There is a
bar and café on the upper deck.

On board the
Mandalay-Bagan slow local ferry...

The
Mandalay-Bagan 5am local ferry, an interesting Burmese
experience. This ferry was built in 1955!
Courtesy Marilyn Le Ruyet

Mandalay to Bagan (5 days) or
Rangoon to Bagan (9 days) by luxury river cruise boat...

A luxury river cruiser plies the Irrawaddy between Mandalay and Bagan, offering 3 or 4
night one-way and 7-night return river cruises between Mandalay and Bagan.
She's run by
Belmond, who also operate the famous
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express &
Eastern & Oriental
Express. The Road to Mandalay also runs
occasional 11 night trips covering Bhamo in the North. Originally
built in 1964 as the Nederland, she cruised the Rhine Valley for 30 years
before being shipped to Burma in 1995, where she was renamed The
Road to Mandalay after Rudyard Kipling's poem. She has just 56 cabins,
all with windows. A
3-night luxury Irrawaddy cruise from Mandalay to Bagan leaving on most
Wednesdays costs around
£1,640 per person, including private cabin, restaurant meals, tours and transfers.
She's now been joined by a second vessel, the Orcaella, which operates cruises
in both directions between Rangoon and Bagan, taking 9 days/8 nights northbound
from around £3,600 per person..

An interesting ride if you've a
spare day in Rangoon...

Many visitors take a ride on
Rangoon's circle line, a rickety train that gives a great flavour of local life
and is the closest thing Rangoon has to a metro. Circle trains run every
30 minutes during daylight hours, and you simply buy a ticket for 200 kyat
(£0.14 or $0.20) from the little
office on platform 6/7 at Rangoon main station and hop on the next train.
Some trains make the whole circuit, some terminate before completing the circle,
so you need to switch trains.

India or China to/from Burma overland...

There are no regular passenger shipping services from Burma, and overland travel between Burma and India
or China has is either difficult or impossible. That's because the borders, and
often the whole border regions, are generally closed to foreigners. Some
regions are also dangerous because of political unrest.

Thailand to/from Burma overland...

It is now possible to travel between Thailand and Burma overland using buses and
the odd train. It's a real adventure, though remoter parts of Thailand and
Burma not usually visited by tourists. I am very grateful for the help of
traveller Alistair Weaver in compiling this section and reporting on the
experience.

There are three main border
crossings between Thailand and Myanmar which are open to tourists, do not
require a permit and allow onward overland travel to all other parts of
unrestricted Myanmar. You will need to get hold of a Myanmar visa
before travelling, they cannot be bought at the Burmese border.

Option 1 via Mae Sot
(Thailand) and Myawaddy (Burma). This is the most popular.
You take a night bus from Bangkok (Morchit bus terminal) to Mae Sot which
drops you at the border in time for breakfast before walking over the border
- you can check bus times at
12go.asia, although
you may have to buy a ticket locally. Onward transport is then easily
negotiated locally for destinations such as Mawlamyine and Hpa-An. The
catch is until the new motorway opens the mountain road can only be
travelled in an Easterly or Westerly direction on alternate days.
Minivans cost around $10 per person and can be easily arranged at the border
(westbound) or in the return direction at many guest houses in Mawlamyine or
Hpa-An eastbound. See above
for trains between Moulmein and Rangoon.

Option 2, via Ban Phunamron
(Thailand) and Htee Kee (Burma). Details of this route are given
below, courtesy of traveller Alistair Weaver. It leads you to Dawei
which is currently unspoilt by tourism and boasts some very beautiful empty
beaches. Onward travel from Dawei is slow, so this route is less
popular.

Option 3, via Ranong and
Kawthaung. This is a short 15 minute boat ride and thanks to the
number of people doing day trips from Thailand for visa runs is a simple
straightforward process. It is detailed in most guidebooks. Onward
travel north from Kawthaung is possible by boat or bus.

Step 2, Kanchanaburi to Ban
Phunamron: Busses and minivans leave from the main Kanchanburi bus
station. With your back to the 7-11 shop the bus stand for Ban
Phunamron is on the left hand side. Minivans leave at 06:00, 07:20, 09:00,
11:00, 12:00, 14:30, 16:20, 18:00. There is also a bus at 10:30. the
minivan costs 100 baht and takes 1 hour, the bus costs 70baht and takes 90
minutes. Both drop you right in front of the border post. Walk
out of Thailand.

Step 3, from Ban Phunamron
to Htee Kee (6kms of no man's land): There are two Thai
restaurants the other side of the Thai border post. It is most likely
you will be approached and offered onward transportation to Dawei for 800
baht. It would be prudent to accept this and is difficult to negotiate
as they have to pay unofficial tolls to use the road on a per-passenger
basis. B eing taken directly to Dawei will include the relevant stop at
Myanmar customs. If it is not possible to organise transportation you
will have to hitch a ride for the 6km to Htee Kee. This is not
difficult as there is a constant stream of pick up trucks importing Thai
goods. They often stop just across the border to pick up locals.
If this not possible stand at the side of the road, hold your hand at 135
degrees (as though walking a dog) and waggle your fingers - holding your
thumb up as in Europe to hitchhike does not work in Asia! Prices range
from free to 100 baht.

Step 4, Htee Kee to Dawei:
If you were able to organise transport at Ban Phunamron this is merely a
stop to get your visa checked and passport stamped. If not once you
have gone through immigration which is in the concrete building on the right
hand side head to where all of the vehicles are parked. There are
frequent minivans from here to Dawei for 20,000 kyat. They will also accept
Baht or Dollars as long as they are in mint condition. The journey to
Dawei is 5 hours.

Rangoon
► Bangkok (via Dawei & the Htee Kee/Ban Phunamron border)

Step 2, from Dawei to
Htee Kee: Minivans leave from the minivan station in Dawei which
is just behind the local bus station. There are a number of competing
companies with vans leaving between 06:30 and 08:00. It's not clear if
there are later vans, but you need to leave early.

Step 3, from Htee Kee to
Ban Phunamron: Myanmar immigration is in the concrete building on
the hill to the left of the 'village'. Once you have done this you
will need to hitch a ride to the Thai border. Empty pickup trucks are
bound for Thailand, full ones are bound for Myanmar. As you leave
immigration there is a road in the distance leading up a hill on the left to
what looks like a petrol station with a green roof. This is the road
to Thailand. Stand at the side of the road and hold your hand at 135
degrees (as though walking a dog) and waggle your fingers - holding your
thumb up as in Europe to hitchhike does not work in Asia. Prices range
from free to 100 baht.

Step 4, from Ban Phunamron
to Kanchanaburi: Your lift will drop you at the Thai border. Cross
into Thailand. Minivans leave from under the tree about 100m down the
road on the left. They run at 06:00, 07:20, 11:00 and 14:30, take one hour
and cost 100 baht dropping you at Kanchanaburi bus station.

The Thai side of the border
at Ban Phunamron with a minivan to Kanchanaburi on the left.
Courtesy of Alistair Weaver.

Traveller's reports...

Traveller Alistair Weaver
reports: "Whilst this route is not difficult it certainly isn't the
seamless border crossing you get between the likes of Vietnam and Cambodia or
Cambodia and Thailand. But I highly recommend it and the trip through the
mountainous jungle region on the Burmese side of the border is stunning.
The road is a dirt track for the first 4 hours although it is wide and mostly
smooth. Border formalities were among the quickest and most relaxed I've
come across. Including queuing time it took 3 minutes to leave Thailand and 5
minutes to enter Myanmar. It was even quicker on the return trip. Be sure
to carry some clean Baht with you and crisp, as new dollars. You will need
this to pay for your minivan to Dawei (kyat if you have it is ideal). Once
in Dawei there are cash machines and money exchanges giving an excellent rate
for the dollar. I cannot emphasise enough the need for them to be in
perfect condition, I had 2 of my $100 notes rejected as they had previously been
folded in half. I recommend starting as early as possible in either
direction. Personally I left Kanchanburi at 10:30 and arrived into Dawei
at 18:00. In the opposite direction I left Dawei at 08:00 and arrived in
Kanchanaburi at 16:00.

The electronic e-visa (which is
more expensive than going to the embassy in Bangkok) is only valid for arrival
by plane. Therefore you must have a valid visa in your passport to travel
in overland. As with flying you get 28 days in Myanmar if you arrive
overland. In the opposite direction most nationalities only get 15 days in
Thailand when they arrive overland, the British and a few other nationalities
still get 30 days. There are restaurants on either side of the Thai border
which I recommend eating at as there is little in way of food on the Burmese
side until you get to Dawei. Remember there is a half hour time difference
between Thailand and Myanmar.

◄◄
Hotel search & price comparison.

www.hotelscombined.com
checks all the main hotel booking sites at once to find the widest choice of
hotels & the cheapest seller. It was named as the World's Leading Hotel
Comparison Site at the World Travel Awards 2013 and I highly recommend it, both
to find hotels in even the smallest places and to check that another retailer
isn't selling your hotel for less!

www.booking.com
is my favourite booking site. It's really clear and you can usually book with free
cancellation and so confirm your accommodation at no risk months before train
booking opens.

Personal hotel recommendations...

In Rangoon, the famous and fabulous
Strand Hotel is Rangoon's equivalent of Singapore's
Raffles, every bit as historic and almost as expensive, but
actually (having stayed at both) much nicer. If you
can't stretch to over $490 a night, at least have a cocktail
in the bar!

For a rather more down-to-Earth price, the
Thamada Hotel is very near the station and easy walking
distance from all of Yangon city centre, from about $85
per night, though there are many other good choices.

In
Bagan, the
Bagan Thande Hotel has attractive bungalows on the river
front, and is walking distance from the sights of Old Bagan,
from about $70 per night for a double.

Travel
insurance

Take out decent travel insurance, it's essential...

Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable
insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover
cancellation and loss of cash and belongings, up to a sensible
limit.
An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year, I have an annual policy myself. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.

Carry a spare credit card, designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...

It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money
explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency
exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use
an ATM abroad. Taking this advice can save you quite a
lot on each trip compared to using your normal high-street
bank credit card!

You can avoid ATM charges and expensive exchange rates with a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or their
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card, see
www.caxtonfx.com for info.

Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find a huge bill.
Consider
buying a global pre-paid SIM card for your mobile phone from
www.Go-Sim.com, which can slash costs by up to 85%. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.